University of Miami - Miller School of Medicine

In 2018, Theresa Keith Horne of Pascagoula, Mississippi, had a dangerous aneurysm in a brain artery that was causing serious vision problems. She started seeing double and had a bloodshot and swollen, bulging left eye. After several specialists were unable to determine the problem, Horne sought care at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute – part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine – where neurosurgery was recommended.

Like many African-American men, Rodney Jenkins knew hypertension could be a serious health problem. But he didn’t know his own blood pressure until he walked into a neighborhood barbershop on a Saturday afternoon where a University of Miami student team was conducting free screenings.

Researchers have struggled with the challenge of getting oral medications past the treacherous environment of the gut intact and into the bloodstream where they can be most effective. But now Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and University of Miami Miller School of Medicine researchers report success in accomplishing this breakthrough using nanotechnology.